Ewing Bottoms, Indiana

Sandhill cranes from Ewing bottoms and Muscatatuck in southern Indiana. With wingspans of six to eight feet and standing close to five feet tall when they gather in flocks of thousands in the flooded fields in winter it's an awe inspiring sight. Their loud calls can be heard for miles. One of the reasons for this remarkably loud and penetrating call is an unusual windpipe. In most birds the trachea passes directly from the throat to the lungs, but in Sandhills it is elongated by forming a single loop which fills a cavity in the sternum. With their wierd calls and odd appearance it's easier to believe that birds are the descendants of the dinosaurs, Sandhills are omnivorous. Sandhill Cranes are generalists and feed on a wide variety of plant tubers, grains, small vertebrates such as mice and snakes, and invertebrates such as insects or worms. Cranes do a great deal of digging with their bills, often penetrating several inches below the surface in search of a morsel. Animals such as snails, crayfish, worms, mice, birds, frogs, snakes, and many kinds of insects are consumed. They also devour acorns, roots, various seeds and fruits, and browse vegetation. Most of the cranes I saw spend the summer in Canada and will leave next month for the north.Sandhill Cranes mate for life and pairs return to the same nesting locations year after year.